


Photo Booth Mug Shot

by Lemon (lemon_sprinkles)



Series: Downtown Eastside [5]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Cute, Date Night, Dating, Fluff, M/M, date, dorks being dorks, photo booth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-21 00:42:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9523751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemon_sprinkles/pseuds/Lemon
Summary: Kaidan convinces Shepard to smile for the camera-- eventually.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Arke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arke/gifts).



> Written for Arke who requested: For Downtown Eastside, I would love to see them jokingly going into one of those photo booth things at the mall and maybe end up really sentimental about capturing the moments and stuff. And maybe Jack finds the photo print-outs and gives Shepard a bunch of crap. I dunno. :)
> 
> I'm currently taking requests for mshenko and gen/friendship fics on my tumblr. If you've got a request drop me a line at lorastyrell.com and I'll see what I can do :)

 “I haven’t seen one of these in _years_.”

 Shepard looked up from his phone to see Kaidan staring wide-eyed at a… photo booth.

 “That thing?” he asked. “That’s been there since… shit, I dunno. Since you were born?”

 Kaidan frowned. “Are you calling me old, Shepard?”

 Shepard smirked but didn’t reply. Instead he nudged Kaidan toward the photo booth with his elbow, knocking their sides together as they navigated their way through the crowd of mall shoppers.

 “I bought you a coffee and this is how you repay me?” Kaidan grumbled as they narrowly missed running into a trundling group of teenagers.

 “Piece of shit, eh?” Shepard said, returning Kaidan’s attention to the photo booth. As cute as Kaidan’s fake indignation was, he kind of was curious about the booth in a nostalgic sort of way.

When he was a kid, he and Jack would come to the mall to waste time in between running drugs and dodging cops. It was warm and sheltered, and Jack liked to see how many tubes of lipstick she could nick from Ardene before one of the clerks noticed (they never did). What little cash they had from their work was spent on sweet treats and hamburgers from the food court, cheap clothes that would tear after three washes, and…

 The photo booth.

 “I’ve been to a few weddings where they have photo booths set up,” Kaidan began, “but they’re all really fancy ones, you know? With backgrounds and props you can use—fake mustaches and stuff. They’re fun, but they’re not… not _classic_ , like this one is. You know?”

 Shepard nodded. He glanced down at the rates on the side, noting that they’d up-ed the price since he was a kid.

 “Yeah, totally…” he said, and sipped the last of his ice cap.

  _Because I’m always at fancy weddings._

 “You wanna try it out?”

 Shepard looked over at Kaidan. He was smiling at Shepard like he’d just suggested something completely and utterly scandalous—a little bit cheeky, a little bit nervous, mixed with all sorts of emotions that made Shepard’s stomach do a flip.

 Literally a face Shepard could never say no to.

 Reaching into his front pocket, he rummaged around before producing a couple of toonies.

 “You got the rest?” he asked.

 Kaidan nodded and scooped up the toonies before adding three of his own. Kaidan disappeared behind the grungy red curtain, almost hitting his head on the top, before there was a loud thud from within punctuated by a ‘damn-it’.

 “You okay?” Shepard asked, trying very hard not to make eye contact with passersby.

 “Fine. It’s just really small in here,” Kaidan mumbled.

 Taking a deep breath and steeling himself for the inevitable awkwardness, Shepard pushed back the curtain and entered the small, cramped booth. Kaidan was already sitting down on the bench, pushed up against the furthest corner in a valiant attempt at giving Shepard space.

 It wasn’t enough.

 They made brief eye-contact, and Shepard could tell Kaidan was trying to read him for a reaction-- discomfort or annoyance, or to see if he was going to leave. Shepard thought this entire idea was stupid and over-priced, and something only teenagers did, but Kaidan…

 “Brace yourself,” Shepard said, and sat himself half on Kaidan’s lap and half on the bench.

 Kaidan let out an exaggerated ‘oomf’ sound, but his arms slid around Shepard’s waist fast enough that Shepard knew he wasn’t uncomfortable with the position. In fact, he seemed rather pleased, if the camera screen in front of them was any indication. He was already grinning like an idiot, and Shepard couldn’t help but join in, even as he was almost pitched forward into the camera when Kaidan slipped the coins into the machine.

 The countdown on the screen started immediately, and as the timer neared zero Shepard discovered he was unable to smile. Panicking, his mind flooded with the knowledge that he was expected to smile like a genuine, nice person-- something he wasn't entirely sure he was even fucking capable of. Staring wide-eyed at the camera, he tried to school his face but only managed a glower before the screen flashed and a bright light filled the space.

_Fucking smooth, Jackass._

 “Smile for the next one,” Kaidan said, and squeezed Shepard’s hip a little as the countdown began again.

 “I don’t know how to—“

 Kaidan kissed Shepard’s cheek right in the middle of his grousing, and the camera flashed again.

 “Smile!” Kaidan repeated. He was laughing.

 “If you keep telling me to smile I’m going to drop my pants and moon—“

 Another flash went off, capturing Shepard with his mouth wide-open and Kaidan laughing hysterically in the background.

 “We have two more,” Kaidan said in between giggles.

 Shepard turned and caught the corner of Kaidan’s mouth, kissing him just as the flash went off. He was determined to have _one_ nice photo.

 When they broke apart Kaidan was smiling up at him, and Shepard, despite the cramping in his neck, returned it.

 “There it is,” Kaidan said, his thumb gently pressing against Shepard’s chin, fingers curled underneath to gently hold him in place.

 The booth light up with the final flash.

  _‘Photos processing. Please wait outside the booth.’_

XX

 Shepard’s breakfast was interrupted by a loud snort followed by cackling.

 Looking up from his bowl of Cheerios he found Jack strolling into the kitchen with a slip of paper in her hands, and a gigantic grin on her face. Sitting down across from him she threw the paper—no, photographs—on the table, and leaned back in the chair, feet kicked out to rest on Shepard’s lap underneath the table.

 “That’s really fucking gay, dude,” she said, nodding her head to the photos from the booth.

 Shepard scowled and grabbed the photos. He was about to turn them over, but caught sight of the last photo and found he was unable— _unwilling_ —to do it.

 “I like the first one. Reminds me of your mug-shot from when you got locked up.”

 Shepard frowned further. “Kaidan wanted to do it, okay?”

 Jack snorted again.

 “Seems to me like you wanted it too,” she said. “You’re looking at him like you’re in loooove.”

 “Shut up,” was all Shepard could get out. “How did you find it, anyway?”

 Jack shrugged and dropped her feet from his lap. “I went digging through your coat pocket looking for some smokes. Found that instead.”

 She waggled her eyebrows before standing up. As she wandered back into the living room, Shepard could hear her singing ‘Shepard’s in love’ to some indistinguishable tune.

 Shepard turned his attention back to the series of photos, stopping again on the last one. Kaidan was smiling up at Shepard, hand curled under his chin, cheeks flushed with laughter and excitement. Shepard found he couldn’t take his eyes off the two of them, cramped and squished up together in a booth that smelled vaguely of ‘old’.

 “So what if I’m in love? Jack doesn’t know fucking shit,” he mumbled to himself, and tucked the photos in his pocket.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Thanks again for the cute prompt, Arke!


End file.
